Death of the Venomverse #5 (2023)

At the Symbiote Squad's headquarters on Earth-1051, Andi Benton laments their chances against the apotheosized Carnage, Anne Weying retorting that they must stop Carnage no matter the cost. Chaos Engine grimly notes that every time they fight Carnage they lose more and more of their allies while it keeps growing stronger; Asgardia retorting that Anne never said they'd make it out alive. Formerly Symbiote Spider-Man, Eddie Brock marvels at the feeling of being Venom, Venomized Rhino welcoming him to the club. Repairing the Virus Armor, Dylan Brock notes that he's got it in mostly-working order and is ready to roll. Venom berates Anne for bringing Dylan to the front lines of the war, but she bluntly tells him he's not Dylan's father and thus has no say, Dylan adding that he's coming whether either of them likes it or not. Silence and Chaos Engine concur, Agent Venom saying she has a Hail Mary play that requires the others to do exactly as she says. On the Earth being invaded by the Symbiote Hive, Cyclops, Captain America, Thor, Magneto, Jean Grey, and Clea express shock at Carnage taking the fight to Knull. Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, they prepare join the fray. Parrying Carnage's axe-hand with All-Black, Knull sneers that he's not from this universe and tells him to prepare to face oblivion. Astride a corrupted version of Silver Surfer's Surfboard, Carnage retorts that if he can't beat Knull then he deserves oblivion, having no chance of defeating the King in Black. Livid, Knull cuts Carnage in half and snarls that he is the King in Black, but Carnage regenerates and sneers that he's not the King in Black of its universe. Struck across the face by one of Carnage's tendrils, Knull fires a beam of red energy from his hand that blasts Carnage back; snarling that gazing upon Carnage is like looking into a mirror and that it sickens him. Thor bashes Knull aside with Mjolnir, Magneto barely managing to immobilize him with his magnetokinesis powers. Cyclops blasts Knull with his eye-beams, Clea amping them with power from the Dark Dimension and Jean Grey guiding his aim to make it a kill-shot. Unfazed, Knull scoffs that their efforts to kill him are pitiful. Captain America tells Carnage to get on its feet, saying that they have Knull on the defensive and can beat him if they work together, but Carnage impales him and snarls that it works alone. Knull beheads Magneto and bisects Thor while Carnage fatally impaling Cyclops, Clea, and Marvel Girl. The interlopers disposed of, Knull declares that no-one will stop him from destroying the Earth and everyone on it, summoning his Knullified Celestials. Carnage retorts that it's going to kill Knull, but offers to finish what he started. Growing to match the Symbiote Celestials in height, Carnage decapitates them with a single blow of its axe-hand, saying it won't stop destroying worlds until it's claimed what's rightfully its. Shrinking back down, Carnage leers at Knull and declares that it's become a god, and that it always was a god. Portalling in, the Symbiote Squad watch Carnage and Knull clash, Silence worrying about what will happen if Carnage wins. Not knowing anything about Knull, Chaos Engine suggests letting them kill each other, but Agent Venom vetoes that and orders the squad to save Knull. A horde of Symbiote Dragons attack, Chaos Engine holding them back as Agent Venom orders Virus to teleport Knull to safety. As Carnage blasts Knull in the face with a torrent of hellfire, Knull -- unfazed -- muses that Carnage would have made for a worthy servitor; Carnage replying that Knull would have made for a worthy host... but that hosts are flesh and flesh is a weakness it cannot afford. On the ground below, the Symbiote Squad struggles to fend off the symbiote dragons until Asgardia claims Mjolnir and her mother's title of Valkyrie, summoning a squadron of Valkyrior astride symbiote-augmented winged horses. Agent Venom bashes Carnage with Captain America's shield, Venomized Rhino grabbing Knull and telling Virus to hurry up with the portal. Virus protests that his armor is malfunctioning due to the damage Carnage perviously inflicted on it. As Agent Venom pins it, Carnage sneers that they're all already dead; Knull furiously decapitating Venomized Rhino. As he declares his intent to unleash his true power, Carnage impales him from behind with All-Blood, saying he'll put Knull's power to better use than Knull himself would've. Consuming Knull and assimilating All-Black, Carnage triumphantly declares it's finally ready to take the fight to its nemesis. Venom attacks, but Carnage blasts him with a torrent of hellfire, killing the Dreamstone symbiote and reverting Venom to Symbiote Spider-Man. Stating they've lost, Agent Venom tells Virus to portal everyone back to their home worlds so they can spend whatever time they have left with their loved ones, but Virus refuses and echoes her own words that they have no choice but to defeat Carnage no matter the cost. Virus summons the remaining members of the Symbiote Squad, but Carnage effortlessly defeats them. Agent Venom orders Virus to sent them back, but he once again refuses even as Carnage kills or knocks out the remaining members of the Symbiote Squad. Agent Venom begs Virus to listen, saying she was wrong, but Carnage impales him and snarls that there's no escaping this time, quipping that he's coming to enjoy killing incarnations of Dylan. As the surviving members of the Symbiote Squad dogpile it, Carnage laughs that it cannot be stopped. Anne activates the Virus Armor's portal device and warps everyone -- dead and alive -- back to their own worlds, morning the loss of her son and saying she should've found another way. Despairing, Anne realizes that all she did was help Carnage on its quest for apotheosis, and that her efforts to stop it amounted to nothing and cost her everything.